INTERPOL’S Executive Director of Police Services, Jean Michel Louboutin, said yesterday that, thanks to the force’s new communications system, I-24/7, the number of people arrested over the past few years had increased by 80 per cent.
Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of Interpol’s 34th European Regional Conference held in Nicosia, he said the system today includes most of Interpol’s 182 members, while efforts are being made to connect the remaining countries to the system.
Louboutin said Interpol “has been created by policemen for policemen,” adding that its aim is to create tools to assist police work all over the world.
Listing the necessary elements for the organisation to be effective, Louboutin referred to a good communication system, a strong database and support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
He noted that Interpol imported its new communication system, called I-24/7, which stands for Interpol 24 hours a day, seven days a week, back in 2003.
“Within Interpol we have 182 member countries and today 146 of them are connected to this new system,” Louboutin said, noting that all European countries are connected.
He also mentioned a few examples of how I-24/7 has led to the arrest of criminals, who were intercepted for other offences and were found to be wanted in other countries for murder.
Replying to questions, Louboutin pointed out that “between 2001 and 2004, the number of arrested people recorded in the Interpol database increased by 80 per cent.
He added that Interpol “has no investigative power” but provides the tools to assist police forces in their work.
Asked about the database for stolen travel documents, Louboutin said it started in June 2002 with a small amount of data and “today we have 76 countries participating with the number of documents standing at over 6 million,” with an expectation to reach 10 million in a few months.
He also pointed out the necessity for countries to focus on the prevention of identity fraud, noting that there was no country in the world today that had set this objective as its priority.
Assistant Director for I-24/7’s Coordination Sub-Directorate, Alexander Gridchin said efforts were under way to extend the connection to borders, airports and other points of entry, adding that “we are still working on the connection of 36 countries, mostly in Africa”.
Gridchin noted that before I-24/7 was set up, “some countries were isolated” but since the network was established “they are back in the international police community and back in operations.”
Asked how the database was protected, he said it was a private network based on the Internet, with a high level of encryption.
